A Different Perspective
by Achlys
Summary: Aang tired of listening to Sokka and Zuko arguing; decides to take matters in his own hands. Now Sokka and Zuko will learn a whole new meaning to walking a mile in anothers shoes.
1. Chapter 1

**A Different Perspective**

A scream pierced the air as a bright burst of flames left Zuko's fist and flew towards Sokka. The brunette quickly ducked but was still caught by the fire on his right arm. His skin blistered and turned raw, as Katara rushed forward with healing water, as Sokka bite his lip to keep another cry of pain in.

"What is wrong with you!" Katara screamed, turning around to face Zuko as she healed Sokka's arm.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to and th-"he was cut off before he could finish by Sokka running out of the room with tears streaming down his face. Aang stood in the corner of the room watching the scene with displeasure. All Sokka and Zuko seemed to be doing since he and Katara arrived was fight, but he never saw Zuko lose his temper where he actually attacked Sokka.

Katara ran after her brother, glaring coldly at Zuko when she ran past him. When it was just Aang and Zuko left standing in the throne room, Zuko threw his hands down from where he was tugging his hair and gave an aggravated scream. "I can't seem to do anything right lately. First I forget our anniversary, and then I called him a lazy snail sloth. Gaa! What wrong with me?"

Aang decided to intervene since he couldn't stand seeing his friend's miserable. "Why don't you let him cool off, and then talk to him later?"

Zuko turned to look at Aang after he felt the other put his hand on his shoulder. "What makes you think he will even want to talk to me? He must think I'm some kind of monster." Zuko's words came out harsh, but died down to a soft whisper as he got to the last part. He eyes turned distant as he remembered his father, and the Agni kai that ended up scarring his face. He sunk to his knees and let a few tears escape. Aang look at the young firelord and felt sadness for his friend. He knew the stress the other was going through, but he seemed to forget all the good he has done so far.

With Zuko being firelord and the war ended, the rebuilding and reconstruction for the rest of the world began, and everything was going well. Not everyone trusted the fire nation yet, and even others were still hostile about all the pain and hurt they went through with family and friends they lost; but they were healing. Not to mention Zuko had Sokka his loving boyfriend and most trusted advisor.

After the war ended Zuko decided it would be better off having members of the different nations as council, with Sokka being the head advisor. He didn't want only fire nation generals in his council; he wanted others that were trusted in their nation to help lead him to repent for his ancestors mistakes and get the world back on track.

Sokka and Suki broke up soon after, because they didn't get to see each other often and the long distance made it difficult for their relationship, but they parted off as friends. While Zuko and Mai broke up a year after the war ended, with no one knowing why. About a year later Sokka and Zuko got together.

Zuko shook his head trying to get the memories of his father out of his mind, and slowly stood up and backed away from Aang. "I don't want to turn into my father." He said as he looked away. He would never let himself become the man he hated.

Aang stared at Zuko for a long moment before turning his head towards the door where Katara was coming back in from. Sokka was nowhere to be seen. Katara marched right up to Zuko and raised her hand smacking him across the face, leaving a red shaped hand mark on his pale skin. Gold eyes darted to stare into glaring glacial blue, but he did nothing to acknowledge the fact that she struck him.

"I'm sorry" he whispered before walking out of the room desperate to find Sokka and apologize, waving off servant that bowed to him, intent on finding his boyfriend. He made it to their room and heard soft crying from within. Feeling his chest constrict Zuko took in a deep breath before opening the door, and walking towards the hunched figure laying curled in the middle of the spacious bed.

Arriving and sitting on the edge Zuko gripped Sokka's shoulder feeling the other tense before relaxing, but not saying anything to acknowledge that he knew the other was there. "Listen I'm sorry alright. I'm just stressed and I took it out on you." As he spoke the body facing away from him turned glassy blue eyes glaring at him through the tears that were still streaming down his face.

"Your sorry, your sorry, that's all you say anymore. I can understand being stressed and forgetting our anniversary, but accidently calling me a lazy snail sloth! Do you know have any idea what I do for you and for the rest of the world? Do you know how many scroll I fill out and file and organize? Let's not forget dealing with your outburst and the snide remarks from the fire nation part of the council. I'm not one of your servants that you can scream at. I'M YOUR BOYFRIEND!" Sokka was yelling by the time his rant was done, his shoulder shaking.

"What do you mean snide remarks from the fire nation part of the council?" Zuko asked he didn't know Sokka was getting a tough time from those old bastards.

When he made up the new council older members from when his father was fire lord refused to leave to Zuko had to put up with their incessant and snide comments about what a failure he was to his nation, and how he disgraced his ancestors, but he never thought Sokka got any comments. He blood was boiling under his skin and he had to breathe deeply as to not accidently burn Sokka again with his body temperature heating up.

"Are you kidding me? Is that the only part you heard me saying?" Sokka was now looking at him with wide disbelieving eyes. He could believe that after all that, Zuko only heard that part.

Zuko shook his head clearing the mental images on him torturing those old bastards and turned his attention back to Sokka, "huh?" he asked having not heard the other because of his mental thoughts.

"Unbelievable." Sokka shook off his hand from his shoulder and stood up from the bed moving to exit the room where Zuko still sat trying to figure out what he did wrong now, before getting up and making to follow after his boyfriend.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Different Perspective**

Zuko and Sokka came back into the throne room arguing just as bad as when they left. "Arg you're as stubborn as a Komodo Rhino."

"Well at least…" that was as far as Zuko got before he was interrupted by Aang. "I thought the whole point of going to find Sokka was to make up with him, not make him madder than when he left."

"I did or at least I thought I did. I don't know what happened." And with that Zuko threw his hands up in the air, and marched over to his dais. Aang started watching the firelord carefully before turning to face Sokka. A sudden thought struck him, and made him grin. It was perfect, what better way to make two people understand each other more than by making them walk a mile in each other's shoes.

"I think I have an answer to your problems." With that everyone in the room turned to stare at the airbender not sure what he was talking about. "You two always fight about not understanding where the other is coming from right? Well I have a way to solve that problem." With that said Aang's arrows started glowing as he entered the avatar state. Only the glowing didn't stop there. His who body turned light blue as he walked to where Zuko sat. He placed his hand upon Zuko's head and chest and Zuko started glowing an orangey-red. Sokka tried to open his mouth to ask Aang what he was doing to his lover, but stopped when Aang's sightless looking eyes turned to him. He backed up a few steps before his back hit the wall.

"A-A-Aang w-wa**it****what are you doing**?" He practically shouted the last part out as Aang closed in on him, and pressed the glowing sphere of orangey-red into his chest. A light burst forth from his mouth and eyes before it faded, and the glowing on Aang disappeared as well.

Zuko looked up from staring at his hand to where Sokka and Aang where. His eyes were wide with disbelief and unfocused. He closed his fist and thrust it forward trying to summon his flame from within. When that didn't work he jumped down into a firebending form and tried again with the same result as before. He walked over to the avatar and clutched the front of his robes. "What did you do with my bending?" He screamed at him. Zuko felt as if a part of him had been ripped from him, leaving him with a cold empty space inside.

Aang calmly pried Zuko curled fist off from his robes before turning to look at the murderous firelord and pale water tribesman. Sokka was looking at him in complete horrification. His normally tan face was an ashy paste color as he gazed at the small flame he held lit in his hand.

"What did you do to me?" his voice was barely above a whisper as Zuko turned to face his distressed lover. His eyes widen from shock again as he saw his fire being bended by Sokka.

"_How can this be?"_ He asked himself, but then remembered what the avatar did the day of the comet when he faced his father. He remembered Aang telling them all that he took the firelord's bending from him so that he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone ever again.

"I took the energies that allowed you to firebend and gave it to Sokka." Sokka's face turn a shade paler, and he started wobbling on his feet, as the fire in his hand started to grow and become unstable. Zuko marched over to his lover's side and tried to calm him down.

"Sokka Sokka you need to calm down, if you don't you could accidently burn someone." With that said Sokka snapped out of his daze and took a deep calming breath. Slowly the flame became more controlled and smaller till it disappeared altogether. But Sokka could still feel the heat inside him, warming his blood like liquid fire, and that unsettled him a great deal. Sure the fire nation wasn't as bad as it was before, and he considered it a second home, hell he was the firelord's lover, but he still couldn't forget all the pain and hurt that the fire that was now flowing in his veins had caused.

Zuko noticed his lover's breath coming out in shaky gasps, and his eyes clenched tight. He knew Sokka still had problems with fire, but didn't know that it was seeded that deep inside him He took him into his arms hoping to calm him.

Aang noticing his friend's behavior walked over to Sokka and offered a calming hand on his shoulder. Sokka opened his eyes and looked at his younger friend. "Don't worry Sokka; I wouldn't have made the switch if I didn't think you could handle it. I learned from the sun warriors that fire isn't all destruction, that it brings life like a tiny heartbeat; and I'm hoping this experience can teach that to you too." He shifted his gaze to Zuko again gaining his attention. "Now the reason I did this swap is so that maybe you two can learn more about each other from this, and hopefully your relationship will become stronger; instead of you two fighting." He turned and walked off to where Katara was standing by the door still in quiet shock. She couldn't believe that Aang made Sokka a firebender.

When Aang came over and saw her look he smiled and said, "Don't worry its only for the three months while we're here, what the worse that could happen." With that he led Katara out of the throne room, leaving behind the couple to get over their shock and try to make three months work with trying to control an aggressive fire beneath his skin and deal with the feeling of emptiness that the flame left in the other.

Oh if Aang only knew what those three months would entail.


End file.
